Nutrien, the fertilizer and farm supply dealer created from the merger of Agrium Inc and Potash Corp of Saskatchewan this year, said it expected demand growth for potash in China and India to cool down in 2018.

On the economic docket, Statistics Canada that our merchandise trade deficit with the world totaled $3.2 billion in December, widening from a $2.7-billion deficit in November. Imports rose 1.5% and exports were up 0.6%.

Western University’s Purchasing Managers’ Index was also released Tuesday, and the seasonally-adjusted index fell to 55.2 in January from 60.4 in December, and 57.2 in January 2017. A reading above 50 indicates an increase in the pace of activity.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.21 points, to reach 805.44

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour of trading, with utilities and consumer staples each settling 1.1%, while financials tailed off 1%

The two gainers were health-care, up 4.1%, and energy, up 0.6%.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stocks erased earlier losses on Tuesday as the major indexes tried to recover from a recent steep selloff.

The Dow Jones Industrial recovered 272.86 points, or 1.1%, to 24,618.57, Caterpillar and Apple were the best-performing stocks on the Dow, rising more than 2%.

The S&P 500 regained 30.22 points, or 1.2%, to 2,679.16, with information technology as the best-performing sector.

The NASDAQ erased 273.42 points, or 3.8%, to 6,967.53, as shares of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet all rose more than 1%.

On Monday, the Dow dropped 1,175.21 points, having briefly declined more than 1,500 points during the session. Other major indexes closed sharply lower. The selloff kicked into action on Friday, after the latest non-farm payrolls report saw interest rates in the U.S. jump.